


be your light

by sohmaskyos



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Happy Ending, M/M, Phandom Big Bang, Phandom Big Bang 2015, Temporarily Unrequited Love, Totally a rom-com, University AU, diner au, phandombigbang, top notch bantz
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-04
Updated: 2015-11-04
Packaged: 2018-04-30 01:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,709
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5144732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sohmaskyos/pseuds/sohmaskyos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Diner AU. Dan is working a late night shift when Phil comes in, newly single and in desperate need of something warm to drink. Dan’s kindness leads to Phil becoming a regular and Dan’s best friend. Crushes develop, but when Phil gets back with his ex, all hope is nearly lost - until it’s not. Rom-com feel!</p>
            </blockquote>





	be your light

**Author's Note:**

> AHH I’M SO GLAD TO BE FINALLY DONE WITH THIS!!!! Thank you first and foremost to my wonderful beta Sia/vincent-phan-gogh and my amazing artist Elliott/rymdarnas, who were so patient with me and stuck with me until the bitter end even though I know I was probably a nightmare to work with. You two are the dream team, and you deserve medals, rocketships, whatever you want. Shoutout to Stephanie/hobbithairdan for helping me come up with the idea, and Michelle/thatsmistertoyou and Whitney/galaxyphan for giving me loads of encouragement and assuring me the #bantz were top notch. special thanks to Quaker’s cinnamon life cereal, which is probably the only reason I survived writing this. Enjoy!
> 
> If you'd like to see the wonderful artwork for this fic, you can find it [here](http://rymdarnas.tumblr.com/post/132163723988/its-not-that-dan-knows-the-guy-because-he)!

Dan prefers working the graveyard shift. He’s always been a creature of the night, crawling into bed when others were getting out. Uni had turned out to be a blessing in disguise and despite the fact he has a nasty procrastination habit he won’t be kicking any time soon, he can at least cater to his nocturnal lifestyle by picking classes that don’t start before two. It works for him, and it’s probably the only reason he’s survived the past two years.

His friend PJ had been the one to help Dan land a job at the diner, a small 24 hour place owned by PJ’s family. He’d been warned by PJ and several of his new co-workers that he’d have to fight for morning shifts, but Dan had been more than happy to take the dead night shifts instead. It means less tips for him, but he can at least sit in one of the booths and have a quiet place to study and do his homework.

It does get a little lonely sometimes, as it’s only him and one of the cooks working - usually he and PJ’s friend Jack - but he does end up getting a lot of schoolwork done in the wake of his boredom while getting paid, so he doesn’t mind.

He’s been taking notes on Hamlet for nearly forty five minutes when the bell above the diner door sounds, dragging Dan out of the iambic pentameter hell he’s spent the better part of three years convincing himself that Shakespeare crafted just for him. The joy at being able to relieve his cramping hand quickly diminishes when he looks up and see who’s standing by the host station.

It’s not that Dan knows the guy, because he doesn’t. It’s very much that Dan is already an awkward server at best, and having to deal with the crying stranger expecting service at two in the morning is far from an ideal situation.

Unfortunately, he doesn’t have much of a choice, so he drags himself out of his booth and towards the host station. “Just one?”

The guy wipes at his eyes. “Yeah, just me.” His hands tremble slightly as he pushes his dark fringe away from his eyes.

“You can sit anywhere that’s clean,” Dan comments, grabbing a menu and following him to an empty booth. He waits for the man to sit down before handing the menu to him and grabbing his notepad from his apron. “My name is Dan, by the way. Can I grab you anything to drink?”

“Erm, just a coffee. That’s all.”

Dan nods and slips his pad back into the pocket of his apron, turning away from the sniffles and trying to keep himself from running into the back. He can barely comfort his friends when they’re upset, much less strangers. If this guy starts crying in front of him, Dan doesn’t know what he’ll do.

He grabs a mug and fills it with coffee, swiping a few creamers and tossing them into a dish before returning back to the dining room. He pretends he’s walking slowly because he’s carrying hot coffee and not because he wants to avoid dealing with a weepy customer.

Dan’s relieved to find that the guy seems to have regained some of his composure - he’s not crying anymore, and although his eyes are still red rimmed and there are still a few sniffles here and there, he seems a lot calmer.

“Thank you,” the man says as Dan sets the coffee down.

“Did you need anything else?” Dan shoves his hands into his pockets and watches as the man reaches for one of the creamers, his hand still shaking slightly. His phone goes off next to him and Dan watches as his attention immediately focuses on the text lighting up his screen.

“Um, I’m good, thank you.” He looks up to give Dan a small, but polite smile before switching his focus back to his phone. Dan nods, which goes unnoticed, and returns to the kitchen. He decides he should make himself seem productive and roll some silverware rather than returning to work on his notes.

“Do I need to get up?” Jack doesn’t even look up from his phone as he asks Dan the question. Another friend who PJ had secured a job for, Jack is the cook scheduled for the night. Dan often works with Jack during the graveyard shifts, as they both share the same nocturnal lifestyle.

Dan grabs the tray of silverware, settling it against his hip.

“Nah,” he says, grabbing a few napkins and tossing them on top of the cutlery. “Just one guy, and he only wanted coffee.”

“Nice. I love getting paid to play games on my phone.”

“An ideal profession. I wish I could do the same.”

“I mean, you can,” Jack says, peering up at Dan over his glasses. “S’long there aren’t any customers out there. Not like you’re gonna get fired.”

Dan shrugs. “True. I always run out of lives on Candy Crush so quickly, though. Plus I usually push off all my schoolwork until I get here, so if I don’t do it here it doesn’t get done.”

“Valid point. Not failing school is a good idea.”

“Probably. I should also probably get back to the dining room. Though I’m kind of reluctant to as the dude was crying when he came in and I feel so awkward.”

Jack grimaces. “Yikes. Have fun with that one.”

“I won’t,” Dan says over his shoulder as he leaves the kitchen. A glance over at the only occupied table reveals to him that the man is still there, so Dan sets his tray of silverware at the bar and begins to roll.

He’s not sure how long he sits there with the silverware, but he’s made at least twenty rolls when he hears a cough from the front. He looks up to see the man standing at the host station, still looking a bit wrecked, and giving Dan a sheepish smile.

“Are you all set?” Dan asks as he heaves himself up from one of the booths. The guy nods as Dan pulls up his receipt. He’s reaching for his wallet as Dan makes the decision.

“Don’t,” he says, holding up his hand. “It’s on me.”

The man in front of him freezes, blinking. “What?”

Dan shrugs. “I can tell you’ve had a pretty rough night. The coffee’s on the house. One less thing to worry about.”

“Are you sure?” His hand is still inching towards his wallet.

“Positive,” Dan affirms, cashing the coffee out to an employee meal and taking the note from the front of his apron. “I hope your night gets better.”

“I- thank you. Have a good one.” The man slips his wallet back into his pocket and gives Dan the biggest smile he’s seen all night. He raises his hand in a small wave and exits the diner, and Dan breathes a sigh of relief.

He genuinely feels bad that the guy was so upset, and he meant it when he said that he hopes his night would get better. He still feels tense from how awkward the situation was, though, and abandons the silverware in favor of getting more of his schoolwork done.

As Dan delves back into the world of murder and existential crises, he hopes that that stranger’s night improves, and that he’ll get the bonus question right on his upcoming Hamlet exam as part of good karma.

***

Dan’s still intimately acquainting himself with Hamlet two days later when the crying stranger returns, this time with a laptop bag slung over his shoulder. He shoots Dan a small smile and a hesitant wave when he looks up, and Dan immediately sets his book aside and heads to the front.

“Just you again?” he asks while grabbing a menu, the guy nods. Dan leads him to the same booth as the other day, setting the menu down in front of him once he’s settled. “My name’s Dan.”

“I remember,” he says and smiles at Dan again before looking down at the menu. Dan’s glad he seems to be in a better mood, mostly because it makes his job easier.

“Right.” Dan reaches for his notepad in his pocket. “Coffee?”

“Please.”

Dan nods and retreats to the back to grab the coffee pot and a mug. When he returns, the customer is still slumped over his menu, his black fringe hanging in front of his face a bit. He looks up when Dan sets the mug and creamers down, flashing Dan a bright smile along with a ‘thank you’. Dan finds himself flashing a genuine smile back.

“Have you decided on what you want, or did you need more time?”

“Erm.” He looks down at his menu again before looking back up to Dan sheepishly. “I’m not really sure what I’m in the mood for?”

Dan leans against the opposite side of the booth, putting a hand on his waist. “If it sways your decision any, we have great pancakes. We can make them American style.”

“Sold,” he says dramatically, sliding the menu across the table hastily.

“I’ll put in a short stack, but if you want more, don’t hesitate to ask.“ Dan lets out a small chuckle, tucking the menu under his arm. He’s about to head back towards the host station when he’s stopped in his tracks by a small cough.

“By the way,” the guy starts, his cheeks colouring as he looks down at the table, “I wanted to thank you for the other night.”

Colour warms Dan’s cheeks too, and he shrugs. “It wasn’t a big deal-”

“It was,” he insists. “I was having a really bad day, as you could probably tell. What you did was really kind and I appreciate it a lot.”

“Well, you’re welcome then. I’m glad that you seem to be having a better night.”

“I am, thank you,” he replies, and looks back up with another bright smile. Dan’s not sure it’s possible for him to blush any harder than he is right now. “I’m Phil, by the way.”

“It’s nice to put a name to the face,” Dan comments, and surprises himself when he finds he actually means it. “I’ll go put your pancakes in.”

“Excellent,” Phil says as he reaches into his bag and retrieves his laptop. He shoots Dan one last smile before turning back to his laptop, and Dan is grateful for the opportunity to hide his blush as he rushes over to the server station to put in Phil’s order.

Alright, so maybe when Phil isn’t crying he’s really cute, but in Dan’s defence, he’s pretty sure he has a mild case of rosacea anyway. Besides, awkward confrontation was involved, a surefire way to make him blush. Anyway, all he knows about Phil is that he likes to come into random diners late at night, and sometimes he cries and other times he smiles a lot and orders pancakes. Dan’s not about to have a crush on someone like that, even if they do have a nice smile.

Never the conversationalist, Dan decides to head back to his booth and get some more schoolwork done rather than going over and trying to make small talk with Phil. Phil’s got his coffee and his own work in front of him, so Dan’s sure he doesn’t mind. He’s just glad that Phil’s not crying this time so he can actually make progress on his work without feeling awkward or uncomfortable.

He actually does get a lot done while waiting for Jack to finish Phil’s pancakes - he finds five different quotes he could use in his essay, and even starts his introductory paragraph. He’s just finishing incorporating his thesis when the bell goes off, and he sets down his pen with a sense of relief at knowing that tackling this paper won’t be as difficult as he anticipated.

“Your pancakes, good sir,” he announces as he sets the plate and syrup down next to Phil’s elbow. Phil immediately sets his Macbook aside, pulling both towards him. “Need anything else?”

“Dimmed lights and mood music?”

Dan lets out a short but genuine laugh. “That serious about your pancakes, huh?”

“You have no idea,” Phil says seriously as he unwraps his silverware. “By the time I’m done, my blood will be 98% syrup.”

“Sounds like that might be a health issue.”

“It’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

“Enjoy, then,” Dan replies, starting to back away towards his booth. “Let me know if you want another stack, yeah?”

Phil nods, but Dan can tell his attention is already solely focused on the food in front of him. Dan smiles and heads back to his own table, dead set on getting more of his essay done.

Dan’s able to get the entire first body paragraph done by the time Phil is ready to leave. Although he tells Dan another stack of pancakes is calling his name, he insists he needs to get home and instead orders a coffee to go and asks for the check. By the time Dan’s gotten him his coffee and receipt, Phil already has his laptop bag slung over his shoulder and is waiting at host station to pay.

He pays with a card he retrieved from a Spiderman wallet and offers Dan a salute and a 'have a nice night’ before heading out the door. It’s not until he’s already outside that Dan realises that Phil doubled the total of the check to include Dan’s tip. If Phil had still been in, Dan would have insisted he tip a normal amount. Maybe Phil had anticipated such a reaction from Dan, which is why he rushed to leave. Before he can get too worked up about it, he realises the tip is probably just Phil’s way of saying thank you for the other night. He’s not sure how he feels morally about being thanked with money, but as a broke college student, he’s not complaining.

***

Phil comes in the three following nights. On the fourth, Dan has the day off, and spends the night making last minute additions to his paper and becoming good friends with the carpet in his bedroom when the stress gets too much for him to handle. He finishes, and it’s not the usual last minute shit he turns in, so the stress is worth it.

He’s back in action at the diner the next day, though, this time without his mountain range of papers spread out around him. He’s still got some work to do, this time for a different class, but it’s a relief to be free of the urgency of needing to work on his paper weighing down on him. It’s nice to be able to take his time and down as many employee discounted coffees as possible.

The bell above the door chimes and Dan looks up from his maths homework to see Phil standing at the host station, his laptop bag hanging off his shoulder like the last four times Dan’s seen him. His eyes immediately find Dan sitting at his booth, and just as Dan starts to get up to go seat him, Phil begins walking towards him instead.

“Where were you yesterday?” Phil asks as he slides into the seat across from Dan, setting his bag aside. Dan raises his eyebrows - they’ve known each other for less than a week, and Phil’s already acting like they’ve been friends for years. It doesn’t bother him, as he does enjoy Phil’s company and already feels as though they’ll be great friends, but Phil’s forwardness is throwing him off a bit.

“Was finishing up my paper,” he says as he watches Phil get his laptop out. “Have to actually do my schoolwork if I want to stay in school and maintain my struggling uni student image. I have a reputation to protect.”

“Understandable,” Phil says over the sound of his laptop starting up. “Hang onto those days as long as you can, though. Being an adult with a real person job is much less fun.”

“So I’ve heard,” Dan hums as he shoves his maths aside. “Did you want a coffee? Pancakes again?”

“Yes to the coffee, no to the pancakes.” Phil smiles as he looks up from his laptop at him. “I’m afraid I’ll turn into a pancake if I keep eating them like this.”

“A reasonable fear,” Dan calls out as he heads towards the back to grab a coffee pot and another mug. He fills Phil’s cup and refills his own and then just sets it down on the table as he slides back into his own seat - he’s sure they’ll both be needing it throughout the rest of the night.

They both fix their coffees to their liking and Dan nods at Phil’s laptop as he stirs in his sugar. “What are you working on?”

Phil sips from his mug before responding, spinning his laptop around to show Dan what’s on the screen. “It’s a logo design for a coffee shop my friend is opening up,” he explains, gesturing to the design that’s open in Photoshop. “It’s pretty simple, but I’m a perfectionist so, naturally, I’ve been working on it for days.”

“It looks good,” Dan comments earnestly. “Is that what you’ve been doing the last few days?”

“Nope, just started this one tonight. I’ve been getting a lot of work lately. I designed a flyer for a local band a few months ago and since then I’ve been getting loads of clients. It’s a lot of work but I mean, I love it, so I’m not complaining too much.”

“Well, you definitely do a good job with it,” Dan says as Phil turns his computer back around to face him. Dan figures he should get back to his homework and pulls it back towards him, but makes no move to grab his pencil as he’s still interested in learning about Phil’s job. “So are you like, a freelance graphic designer?”

“Yup,” Phil says, nodding. “Graduated from York with a degree in it.”

“I applied to York! Manchester gave me an unconditional offer though, so. Seemed like the obvious choice.”

“I’m inclined to insist that York is better cos school pride and all that, but Manchester’s a good school, too. Plus, can’t really say anything too bad about it - I did choose to move here after graduating, so obviously I like it enough to live here.”

“It is a really nice city,” Dan agrees, cracking open his textbook. “I don’t get to see much of it, cos I’m either working, going to class, or sleeping, but I like the parts of it that I have seen, if that’s any consolation.”

Phil laughs. “I would scold you for not getting out more, but I understand the struggles of being in university. Plus, I’m not one to talk - my boyfriend just broke up with me because I work too much and don’t get out enough.”

Dan’s suddenly reminded of that first night he met Phil, a little more than a week ago, where he’d come into the diner with tears streaming down his face. He’d felt so awkward that first night, not knowing how to give comfort to a crying stranger, and how he’d hoped Phil would never show up again so he didn’t have to deal with it. Now, barely a week later, Dan’s found an unlikely friendship in Phil, and while he’s not sure how it happened, he’s glad that it did.

“Is that why you were - you know -” Dan attempts to gesture tears falling down his face.

“Yeah,” Phil responds, laughing. “Nice acting skills.”

“You’d think, for a theatre major, I’d be better at this,” Dan comments, shaking his head. “That’s a shitty reason to break up with someone, though. How long had you been dating?” He realises after he asks it that it’s a personal question to ask a friend who you’ve only known for a few days, but Phil doesn’t seem to mind.

“Two and a half years,” he says, and when Dan gives him a confused look, he nods. “I know. Two and a half years, and his solution is to dump me because I’m not giving him my undivided attention rather than talking to me about it?”

“That’s ridiculous,” Dan says. He’s not going to comment on the fact that Phil was in a relationship with a boy, but the blush colouring his cheeks isn’t agreeing with that plan. Being bisexual himself, he obviously doesn’t have a problem with the fact that Phil’s not straight, but he can’t help his body’s natural reaction to finding out that a cute guy he has fun with is interested in men and newly single.

He wants to punch himself in the face for that one. Phil just got out of a relationship that took up two and a half years of his life - Dan shouldn’t be looking at him as a candidate for a future boyfriend.

“It is pretty ridiculous,” Phil agrees.

“I mean -” Dan starts, “You seem to be taking it well, though? Aside from that first night.”

“The pancakes are helping a lot,” Phil laughs, resting his head against his hand. “But er, yeah, I guess I am? I’m upset, but I dunno. If he can’t deal with the fact that I’m going to be busy sometimes, then it’s not meant to be, you know? Mostly I’ve just been trying to stay positive, though.”

“That’s a good idea. Wish I had done that when my girlfriend and I broke up before uni. I was a mess for weeks.” He debates for a moment if he should clarify that he’s not just interested in girls, but decides against it. After all, he really shouldn’t be trying to get into Phil’s pants this soon after his breakup.

Phil shrugs. “It’s a hard thing to go through, especially when you’ve been with someone for a while.” He takes a sip of his coffee, and when he pulls the mug away from his face, he gives Dan a bright smile. “Everything happens for a reason though, right?”

Dan smiles back at him, feeling his cheeks colouring again.

“Right.”

***

Dan never expected to get so close to Phil as quickly as he has, but as the days and weeks blur together he finds himself considering Phil to be his closest friend. It’s nice to have someone to fill the long stretches of silence he had grown accustomed to while working the late shifts, especially now that Phil usually stays with him until Dan clocks out at four. He’s glad to know that he’s not the only one who runs on a completely nocturnal schedule.

With finals approaching, he’s had to start picking up more shifts at the diner, as they’re a bit short staffed and hoards of his classmates had been popping in lately. Finals are approaching, and everyone is scrambling for a quiet place to sit down and study - seeing as the diner is usually quiet and right near the dorm halls, they’ve been receiving a lot of business lately from hungry, sleep-deprived uni students hunched over massive textbooks and eating as many pancakes as possible.

Dan’s among them, though he usually can’t study until after most kids have gone home, which normally isn’t until at least one. Luckily, though, he has Phil, who always offers to quiz him with the notecards Dan has prepared, and only complains about Dan’s horrible penmanship a little, as he knows Dan is stressed with all the work that’s been piled on his shoulders lately.

Despite the fact that his life has become pretty hectic in the last few weeks, it hasn’t stopped him from developing feelings for Phil. It’s a bad idea for a lot of reasons - for starters, Phil’s just gotten out of a long term relationship and probably isn’t looking to date anyone for a long time. Coupled with the fact that Dan is a whole four and a half years younger than Phil, he’s pretty sure he has no chance. Not to mention that Phil is his first and only best friend, and Dan doesn’t want to jeopardize that with feelings he’s sure Phil won’t reciprocate.

Yet here he is anyway, harbouring a secret crush even though he literally doesn’t even have the time for these kind of feelings at the moment. In his defence, he can’t really help it. It’s not his fault he blushes every time Phil brushes his foot against Dan’s and smiles at him, or that Phil has started insisting on sitting on the same side of the booth as Dan to help him with his work. It all feels like something he would do with a boyfriend or girlfriend, so he’s not surprised that he’s started feeling the way he has - it’s just incredibly inconvenient, is all.

“Hey, you,” Phil says to him now as he enters the restaurant, his bag slung over his shoulder as always and his ever-present smile that he wears whenever he’s around Dan. Dan nods at him as he passes by, carrying a tray full of food, and Phil takes the hint and just goes to sit at their normal booth.

Once Dan’s done taking care of the table, he slides into his seat next to Phil, humming out a greeting and pulling out his phone to check his notifications. He only has a few from Twitter from Peej, who’s been favouriting his tweets about slowly dying and a few vague one’s he’s done about Phil. PJ’s already demanded to know all about this mystery crush, and has taken it upon himself to schedule some hours with Dan in the next week so he has the chance to meet Phil. Dan’s not looking forward to the experience.

“Unprofessional,” Phil scolds, but he’s laughing as he shakes his head. Dan rolls his eyes and slides his phone back into his pocket, dragging his ancient history textbook towards him and resisting the urge to hit himself in the head with it. He’s so glad that he’ll be done with his general education classes after this year.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dan mumbles. “How unprofessional is it to bludgeon myself to death with this textbook in front of all these customers?”

“Very, but if you were dead you wouldn’t have to deal with work or school, so it might be worth it.”

“You’re supposed to reassure me that it’ll all be okay,” Dan whines, “Not encourage me to accept death’s sweet embrace.”

“I’ve learnt to just indulge your dramatic behaviour. Figure it’s good for you, being a theatre major and all that.”

Dan groans, letting himself flop down onto the page he’s supposed to be reading about ancient Greece. He wishes he had read it the first time around rather than trying to cram all the information in now, two weeks before his final.

Phil lets out a sympathetic hum next to him, and suddenly the weight of his hand is on Dan’s shoulder. Dan’s grateful that his face is pressed into his book so Phil can’t see the way he’s blushing just because of the simple contact.

“You need a break,” Phil decides after a moment, and Dan lifts his head just enough so that he can look at Phil and raise an eyebrow at him.

“I don’t have time for a break,” Dan insists.

“Sure you do,” Phil responds. “Your finals aren’t for another two weeks. You can afford to take one night off to relax and have some fun.”

“I don’t know-”

“Come on,” Phil pleads. “One night. I’ll take you to parts of Manchester you haven’t had the chance to explore yet and then after that I’ll spend like, every minute until your finals helping you study.”

It’s an attractive offer, Dan’s not going to lie. Spending an entire evening with Phil sounds very tempting, but he’s still unsure. He does have a lot of studying to do, and he’s not convinced he can afford to take an entire night off to wander the streets of Manchester with Phil. Then again, he’s also not convinced he won’t spend his night off procrastinating studying anyway, so he figures it can’t hurt too much, right? Especially if Phil is offering to help him study afterwards.

“What the hell,” Dan says in defeat. “Fine, you win. I’m off on Sunday.”

“Nice!” Phil exclaims happily, grabbing Dan by the shoulders and shaking him from side to side. “We’re gonna have so much fun, it’ll be the perfect stress reliever. Then I’ll help you study so hard.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Dan says, blushing again as he shrugs out of Phil’s grip. “It better be good.” The threat is empty, though, because he knows he’s going to have a great time.

“It’ll be the best,” Phil swears, holding out his little finger. “Pinky promise.”

Dan stares at Phil’s pinky for a moment before looking back up at Phil, wondering if he’s actually serious. After Phil nods his head, indicating that yes, he is a 23 year old man who is very serious about pinky swearing, Dan sighs fondly and hooks their little fingers together. Phil beams at him, squeezing Dan’s pinky with his own before pulling his hand away. Dan immediately turns back to his textbook, hoping to hide how flustered he is just from linking their pinkies together.

“It’s settled, then,” Phil declares. “I’ll pick you up at 6.”

***

Dan almost regrets agreeing to going out with Phil. Almost.

First of all, he has no idea what to wear, as he has no idea if this is a Casual Friend Outing or a Date. Phil had made it seem like more of a friendly encounter when he first proposed the idea, but his text to Dan letting him know he was on his way coupled with the smirking emoji makes Dan believe it’s the latter. Dan has learned Phil’s just kind of a sexual person without trying to be, so he could be reading into the smirking emoji a bit too much. Still, they do manage a lot of flirty banter whenever they hang out, so maybe Dan isn’t reading into it.

Regardless, this will be Phil’s first time seeing him out of his work uniform, so Dan needs to make a good impression, date or not.

He ends up settling on his black jeans and one of his many black jumpers - it’s not much different than his work uniform, but it’s safe for whatever kind of night it turns out to be and something Dan feels comfortable in. To his surprise, the hair gods have blessed him tonight and the mop on his head is looking considerably less shit than it normally does, something Dan’s pleased with.

Of course, as he pushed off getting ready until the very last minute, he doesn’t have much time to pick his appearance apart before the buzzer signaling Phil is outside is sounding through his apartment. His phone dings a moment later with an accompanying text from Phil - _‘here :]’._

Dan slips his shoes on and grabs his jacket on the way out the door, deciding to just meet Phil at the front of the building rather than making him come up to Dan’s floor. He’s just slipping his jacket on when he sees Phil through the glass door of his building, waving his gloved hand excitedly. Dan gives a smile and a small wave back, zipping up his jacket and stepping out into the cold December air.

“It’s so weird to see you out of your uniform,” Phil comments, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I’m afraid I’ll forget your name now that you don’t have the name tag.”

“Shut up,” Dan laughs, mimicking Phil and stuffing his hands into his pockets. He should have brought a pair of gloves. “So, where are we headed?”

“That,” Phil starts, pulling one of his hands out of his pockets to lift a single finger for emphasis, “is a surprise. Just follow me.”

“Sounds shady. You gonna lead me to a dark alley and murder me? Not gonna lie, would kinda be grateful for the excuse to not go to my finals.”

“It’s times like this I can really tell that you’re studying theatre. You’re such a drama queen.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.” He bumps Phil’s shoulder with his own. “Seriously, though, you’re not gonna tell me where we’re going?”

“Nope,” Phil responds, grinning and starting to walk down the block. “Just wait and see.”

***

The place Phil takes him to eat isn’t too fancy, much to Dan’s relief - it’s a nice hibachi joint in a part of the city Dan’s never been to. When he tells Phil this, he nearly has a heart attack, and demands to know how Dan had been living in Manchester for two years and remained so sheltered. Dan reminds him he’s a lonely, busy uni student with no friends to explore the city city with, and Phil declares he needs to get out more, offering himself as a tribute.

If Phil’s promise of future outings together didn’t make this feel like a date, Phil insisting on paying for his meal definitely does. So does Phil helping him into his coat before they leave, and Phil resting his hand on Dan’s waist as he leads him out of the restaurant, and Phil offering his gloves to him when they’re in line to get on the Manchester Eye. Dan barely has time to tweet _is this a date_ with the eyes emoji before Phil is downright insisting Dan takes his gloves from him, going as far as to shove Dan’s hands into them himself. At least he can blame the blush that comes with their fingers brushing on the cold.

Phil is stupidly cute when they’re on the wheel, pointing out different parts of Manchester to Dan and telling him stories of all the different experiences he’s had in the city. It definitely makes Dan realise he needs to get out more, and he’s glad Phil’s already offered to help him achieve this goal.

Not wanting to stay out too late, as he knows Dan has a lot of studying ahead of him tomorrow, Phil walks Dan back to his flat after they get off the wheel. Dan expects Phil will just drop him off at the entrance to his building, so he’s surprised when Phil opens the door for him, following as Dan steps inside.

“Thanks for showing me around,” Dan says as they finally reach his door. He leans against it, his hands still in his coat pockets, reluctant to say goodbye.

“‘Course,” Phil nods, leaning one shoulder against the wall next to the door and smiling. “Two years late, but I’m glad I could have the honour of being your tour guide. More Manchester adventures after you’re done with finals, yeah?”

“Sounds good,” Dan says. “Looking forward to it, ‘s long as I’m not dead by the time finals week is over.”

“It would put a bit of a damper on things if I was dragging a corpse around Manchester,” Phil agrees, letting out a small laugh. “Do you work tomorrow tonight?”

“Yup, along with every other night this week. Better make good on your promise to help me study.”

“I never go back on a pinky swear,” Phil answers seriously. “I’ll be there.”

“Good,” Dan says, and he kind of wants to die because he’s blushing again. He’s already pretty sure he has a mild form of rosacea, which is embarrassing enough, but this takes the cake.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Dan breathes out just as Phil holds his arms open for a hug. Dan immediately latches onto him, having to stand on his tiptoes a bit so he can rest his chin on Phil’s shoulder. Phil squeezes his middle tightly and they stand there for a few moments, and Dan’s glad his own wide grin is being reflected on Phil’s face as they pull away from each other.

“Tomorrow,” Phil promises once more as he starts to head down the corridor, walking backwards and still giving Dan that goofy smile. He’s about to turn around and round the corner when Dan remembers he’s still wearing Phil’s gloves.

“Wait, your gloves!” he calls out as he tugs them off his fingers, half jogging the few steps to Phil and pushing them into Phil’s hands.

“Thanks for remembering,” Phil says earnestly as he pulls them on. “Would have missed these on the walk home.”

“I bet. Thanks for letting me borrow them.”

“Always,” Phil says, pulling Dan in for another hug. This time he pecks Dan on the top of his head, too, and even laughs at the blush on Dan’s cheeks when he pulls away. It’s the biggest confirmation yet that tonight was a date, and it’d be so easy for Dan to grab Phil by the collar and pull him down into a proper kiss. Maybe he would if he were a character on stage, but right now he’s just Dan, and Dan’s too afraid of rejection to make the first move.

Instead he bites his lip, holding back a smile as he tells Phil, “Text me when you get home.” Phil nods, delivering another kiss to Dan’s head before finally turning around to leave.

Dan’s smile is wide as he lets himself back into his apartment, shedding his coat and all but collapsing on the couch. The first thing he does is pull out his phone and open Twitter, typing out a tweet with what he’s sure is the goofiest smile on his face.

_so. that was totally a date._

***

Dan’s barely been here for half an hour and he can already tell this is going to be one of the longest shifts of his life.

It’s Wednesday, less than half a week before finals begin, and the diner is buzzing with hungry, stressed college students. Dan’s among them, but unfortunately, he’s also the one running around tending to their needs, which doesn’t help the whole I’m-about-to-explode-from-stress thing.

It’s so busy that Peej has been roped by his own parents into working the night shift with Dan, something that’s never happened in the two years Dan’s been working there. It’s not a full house, thank god, but it’s packed enough to the point that Dan can’t manage it all by himself. Even Dean’s been scheduled to work in the kitchen with Jack, and the fact that four of them are needed to cover this shift is a little overwhelming.

He’s always been good under pressure though, and he’s impressed that he hasn’t managed to drop anything or mess up anyone’s order considering how frazzled he feels. He’s barely had a moment to sit down and focus on his own studying, not that it matters, anyway - Phil’s uncharacteristically late tonight. Though Dan’s sure he’ll be there, as Phil did pinky swear on it, his absence is still a bit unsettling, and feeling more unsettled than he already is is something that Dan really doesn’t need right now.

The number of people dwindles down as the night wears on, and by midnight there are only five tables to split between the two of them, the fifth ready to head out the door once Dan gets them their check. He can’t help but let out a sigh of relief as he splits the check five ways, glad that the worst of the night seems to be over.

“Good work today,” Peej says from over his shoulder, smacking Dan’s ass with a cleaning rag as he passes by with the bus bin on his hip. Dan rolls his eyes fondly and PJ throws him a smirk, heading into the kitchen.

“Let me get that for you, your highness,” Dan hears Jack say, and he lets out a snort. “Wouldn’t want the boss’s son to be too overworked.”

“Shut up,” PJ laughs, and Dan hears another smack that he’s sure is connected to PJ hitting Jack with the rag. He hates to miss out on the rest of the banter, but he really wants to get this table out the door, so he heads over with the checks in hand. It’s not like he hasn’t heard Peej and Jack fighting before, anyway.

He’s just cashing the last of the checks out when Phil walks in, and Dan can’t help the way that he beams.

“There’s my favourite customer,” he says fondly, depositing the tip money from the last table into his apron and leading the way to their booth.

“It’s wrong to play favourites,” Phil chastises, but the smile on his face gives the act away.

“Yeah, yeah.” Dan dismisses him with a wave of his hand, leaning against the opposite seat as Phil slides into his normal spot. “Can’t sit just yet, still have a few more tables to wait on. Where have you been, anyway?”

“Miss me much?”

“Nah, not at all. I’m only using you to pass my classes - once finals week is over, I’m kicking you to the curb.”

“Ouch,” Phil hisses, feigning a wounded look. “Pretty harsh treatment for your favourite customer.”

“Only saying that to butter you up,” Dan explains, smiling. “Gotta be on your good side if I want you to help me.”

“Flawless strategy. I’m impressed.”

“As you should be,” Dan calls out as he walks away to grab a mug and the coffee pot. It’s to the point where Phil doesn’t even need to ask anymore. “Really, though,” he says upon his return, pouring the brew into Phil’s mug, “where were you? You’re later than usual.”

“Got a little caught up,” Phil explains, a big smile appearing on his face. “You’ll never believe what happened.”

“Did you stumble across a dog in the street and get distracted petting it for three hours?”

“I wish,” Phil says seriously. Dan’s learned he’s a serious sucker for any and all dogs. “But no. I actually just got back from Cam’s place.”

Cam is Phil’s ex-boyfriend. Dan tries to ignore the way his stomach drops at the mention of his name.

“Oh? You finally get those Muse vinyls back?”

“No, but thanks for reminding me, I probably should.”

“‘Course, Muse is important. What happened, though?”

“Like I said, you’re never gonna believe this,” Phil starts excitedly, “But like - we kind of got back together?”

He can’t ignore the way his gut lurches at that, tugging at his heart and his lungs and maybe even his entire skeletal structure. It’d explain the fact that he feels utterly and completely crushed.

“Oh,” he chokes out weakly, and when he realises how deflated he sounds, he quickly recovers. “Oh! That’s really great, Phil! I’m really happy for you!” He only feels slightly bad about lying to Phil’s face, but he’s not sure how to explain how he feels completely opposite without bursting into tears. It’ll have to do for now.

Luckily, Phil seems to buy it, as he’s beaming. “Thanks,” he chirps. “I’m like - really happy. I missed him a lot.”

“I bet,” Dan hums, wanting nothing more than to stop talking to Phil for the first time since that awkward first encounter.

“Yeah,” Phil says happily, and Dan can tell he wants to gush about it. “I’ll tell you more about it later, though. I promised to help you study, so that’s what we should focus on. What’d you need help with today?”

“Er, I’ll have to look,” he mumbles, running a hand through his hair. He can feel himself starting to get upset and he just needs to get out of here now. “I just like - I really need to have a wee first, so I’ll be right back.”

He doesn’t give Phil a chance to respond before darting towards the kitchen, catching Peej by the elbow and dragging him back inside just as he’s about to head out the door. He’s about to protest, but the look on Dan’s face must look pretty pathetic, because he stops struggling to get out of Dan’s grip immediately, instead settling his hand on Dan’s shoulder.

“Hey, are you okay?” he asks softly, his tone genuinely concerned. Dan’s glad to have a friend like PJ.

“No,” Dan replies honestly, the back of his throat beginning to ache from holding back tears. “I’ll explain later but can you like - please just watch my tables for a few minutes -”

“Of course,” PJ cuts in, and Dan’s so thankful that he’s the type who doesn’t need to ask questions. Or maybe Dan looks like he’s going to burst into tears any moment and PJ feels bad for him. Either way, Dan’s grateful that Peej agrees to take care of his tables for a few minutes before shoving Dan off in the direction of the employee restroom.

He must look really upset, because Jack opens his mouth to tease him about Phil before promptly shutting it again, and Dan barely manages to close the door to the loo before the tears start coming. He sinks down to the floor, willing himself to try and stay calm as it’ll be hard to hide the fact that he was crying when he goes back to Phil, but the tears don’t stop.

He feels like he’s been punched in the face. He honestly can’t wrap his mind around the fact that Phil actually got back together with Cam - after all of the bitching he’s done over the last few weeks, after all the insistences of, “It’s whatever, I’m over him,” and, “Everything happens for a reason,” Phil takes him back, just like that. Like he’d never said any of it in the first place.

Like he hadn’t been on his way to starting something new with Dan.

Dan feels like an absolute idiot. He knew that this was a bad idea from the moment he started developing feelings for Phil, knew that Phil was still recovering from his last relationship and wouldn’t want to get involved with Dan like that. But he’d convinced himself that it was okay when Phil had started flirting back, when they’d play footsie under the table and share stacks of pancakes and huddle close together over maths problems Dan was having a particularly hard time with. And then Sunday happened, and Dan had been so sure that Phil felt the same. He bought Dan dinner, he let Dan borrow his gloves, he kissed Dan’s forehead - not once, but twice. Dan thought it had all meant something. Clearly he’d been reading too much into it. As if Phil would go for some teenager who hasn’t even graduated from university yet. He doesn’t know what he’d been thinking.

He feels childish and stupid for crying in a restroom over a boy in the middle of his shift like this, but he feels so, so gutted that he can’t be bothered to care. He wishes Phil would leave while he’s hiding out in here, but knows Phil would never leave without saying goodbye, and knows that he has to leave the loo and face him eventually.

He tears off some of the tissue in the toilet roll next to him, dabbing at his eyes as he pulls himself to his feet. He looks totally wrecked, and there’s no way Phil’s not going to notice he’s been crying.

It ends up being a few more minutes before Dan emerges, as he decided to wait a bit to let his eyes get a little less red before leaving the restroom. When he exits the kitchen, all of the tables are gone except for Phil, and PJ appears by his side again and rests his hand on Dan’s shoulder.

“Do you need me to take over for you?” he asks gently. Dan shakes his head.

“No, I’ll be alright,” he insists. “Thank you, though.”

“Let me know if you need me to step in, yeah?”

“I will.”

Dan reluctantly makes his way back over to where Phil is sitting, sliding into the seat across from him rather than taking his normal seat by Phil’s side. Just as he expected, Phil immediately notices something is wrong the minute he sees Dan’s face.

“Hey, are you alright?” he asks, his eyebrows knitting together in concern. The simple question already has the tears burning in the back of Dan’s throat again.

“Yeah, I’m just like -” Dan starts, blushing when his voice cracks and refusing to meet Phil’s gaze as he starts to cry again. Damn it. “Really stressed. I don’t know.” It’s not a total lie, but it’s not the real reason he’s upset, either, and looking at Phil is just making it worse. He buries his face in his hands, trying to regain his composure before he really loses it again.

Before Phil can get another word out, PJ is back by his side, kneeling down next to him and letting his hand rest on Dan’s shoulder again.

“Hey,” he says softly. “Dan, hey, go clock out.”

“No,” Dan protests. “My shift doesn’t end ‘til five -”

“I’ll cover it,” PJ insists. “Go clock out.”

“Peej, I’m fine -”

“You’re not,” he interrupts again. “I’m the manager on duty and I’m telling you to clock out. Go, now.”

PJ never pulls the boss’s son card - not seriously, anyway - so Dan knows he means business. He’s too tired and upset to argue the point any more, and doesn’t even spare a glance in Phil’s direction as he pushes himself up from the booth and lets PJ lead him to the back where the time cards are.

Once he’s clocked out PJ pulls him into a hug, and Dan gladly accepts the embrace.

“I’ll come over before our shift tomorrow with chocolate and you can tell me what happened, yeah?” PJ mumbles in Dan’s shoulder, and Dan nods. He doesn’t ever give PJ enough credit, and he really should - Peej has always been a great friend to him, and Dan’s really grateful to have him in his life.

“I’ll beat him up, too, if you’d like,” he adds, and Dan lets out a wet sounding laugh. PJ pulls back, hands on both of Dan’s shoulders, and smiles. “I’ll take that as a yes. Now go home, Howell, you look like shit.”

Dan laughs again, agreeing, because last he checked, he did look like shit. He pulls his coat on and grabs his school bag and heads towards the door, hoping to bolt before Phil has a chance to say anything. Unfortunately, Phil’s just full of disappointment tonight, as he’s already waiting at the door for Dan.

“Can I walk you home?” he asks, and more than anything, Dan wants to say no. He’s feeling heartbroken and bitter and the last thing he wants to do is spend more time with Phil, but he also knows Phil’s genuinely concerned about him and has no idea that he’s the reason Dan’s upset. He hesitates, but he nods, and Phil looks relieved.

The walk back to Dan’s apartment is silent, and Phil follows him all the way up to his door again. Dan wants to laugh at how drastically things have changed - just three nights ago, he didn’t want Phil to go. Now, he can’t wait for Phil to leave him alone.

“Thanks for walking me home,” he says, not even facing Phil as he fishes his key from his pocket. “Text me when you get home safe, you know the drill.”

“I will,” Phil says quietly. “And you text me if you need to talk to someone, alright? I’ve been through this before and I can help. I don’t like seeing you so upset.”

Dan wants to laugh in his face, tell him the real reason why he’s upset. That would require admitting his feelings for Phil, though, and at this point, that’d just be embarrassing. Instead, he just nods, and hopes Phil will take that as a good enough response and be on his way.

Of course it’s not, though, as Phil decides Dan’s in need of a hug and pulls Dan into his arms. No matter how much Dan wants to be mad at Phil, and scream at him and cry over him and hate him, he likes him too damn much to do any of those things. He hates the way that he melts into the embrace, hates the way that he lets Phil believe he’s easing Dan’s troubles when he’s the reason for them.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” Phil mumbles into his shoulder. “Think you’d be up for meeting Cam? I really want you to meet, but I’d understand if you weren’t up for it.”

“Sure,” Dan sighs. If tomorrow night is anything like tonight, he’ll be too busy to talk to Phil or his stupid boyfriend for too long.

“Alright, I’ll bring him. You text me if you need to though, okay?”

“I will,” Dan responds, knowing he definitely won’t be doing that. “See you tomorrow.” Before Phil can respond, he slides his key into the lock, slipping inside his flat and closing the door promptly behind him, cutting off Phil’s goodnight.

He hates himself for feeling bad for it.

***

Dan’s disappointed to find that it isn’t as busy the next night, not only because it means less tips for him, but it also means he probably has to actually deal with Phil and Cam now. He regrets telling Phil it was alright to bring him, and wonders if it’s too late to text him and cancel.

Definitely too late, he thinks as Phil and Cam walk through the door at that exact moment. Cam’s taller than Phil, all blonde hair and blue eyes, and Dan wants to gag. He looks exactly like the type of guy to break up with someone because they weren’t giving him enough attention, and that’s not the kind of guy Phil deserves. Not that he’s saying he’s the type of guy Phil should be dating, but surely he’s better than this guy.

The world isn’t completely out to get him tonight, though, as he happens to be carrying a large tray full of food for the 12-top he and Peej are splitting service for. He nods at Phil and forces an apologetic smile, jerking his head towards the large party and indicating he’s busy. Phil takes the hint, grabbing himself and Cam two menus from the host station and seating himself at his and Dan’s regular booth.

As he’s providing everyone with their food, PJ by his side and helping him, he realises that the last thing he wants to do is wait on Phil and his SB (Stupid Boyfriend). He waits until they’re finished handing out the orders until he grabs Peej by the elbow, dragging him to the kitchen.

“Please take Phil’s table,” he begs, getting straight to the point. “I’ll take over the 12-top and your other two tables and still give you the tips. I just seriously cannot deal with this right now.”

“Done,” PJ agrees immediately. “Want me to be a dick to him?” He’s caught up on the situation now, as he’d stuck true to his word and showed up at Dan’s house a few hours before with chocolate and a good listening ear. It’d felt good to get everything out, but seeing Phil again makes him want to cry all over again, and he’d rather not have another breakdown at work, thanks.

“If you want,” Dan relents. “Be lowkey about it, though.”

“Got it,” PJ says seriously, nodding. “You shouldn’t have any problem avoiding him - the elderly couple at twelve is really talkative.”

“Thanks for the heads up,” Dan says, throwing PJ a thumbs up and heading back out to the dining room. Peej heads over to Phil and SB while Dan makes a beeline for table twelve. PJ’s right - they are talkative, but Dan’s only half listening to the woman’s story about a bee that stung her when she was eight years old. The table Phil’s sat at with SB isn’t that far, and he can hear their conversation perfectly.

“Erm,” he hears Phil start, “can we wait for Dan? He’s my usual server.”

“That’s nice,” Peej says in his sickly sweet customer voice. “I’m PJ, and I’ll be your server tonight.”

“Yeah, but -”

“Dan’s busy right now,” PJ interrupts coolly. “Unless you’d rather wait for the other four tables he’s waiting on to leave, you’re stuck with me. Your choice.”

Dan hears SB reason with Phil, insisting that he’ll just meet Dan another time, and Phil finally relents. The elderly woman finally wraps up her bee story, and Dan collects their food orders before heading over to Phil’s table. He knows Phil will whine at him later if he doesn’t at least say hi, so Dan figures he might as well get it over with and appease him a bit.

“Hey, sorry,” he says as he approaches, feigning being out of breath. “Got unexpectedly busy tonight. PJ here will take good care of you, though.”

“Er, that’s alright,” Phil says, but it’s clearly not alright with him. Dan doesn’t even care. “Anyway, this is Cam. Cam, this is Dan.”

“Nice to meet you, Dan,” SB says, holding out his hand. Dan’s just about to shake it when the bell from the kitchen rings, and Dan wants to laugh at the coincidence - literally saved by the bell.

“Whoops, that’s me,” he laughs. “Gotta go get that. Lovely to meet you too, though. I’ll try to pop round again if I have time!” With that, he scurries to the kitchen, not even sparing a glance over his shoulder to look at Phil or SB’s expressions. He doesn’t even have to look to know that PJ has a smirk on his face.

Taking on Peej’s tables and the 12-top by himself does prove to be quite the task, and he actually is kept busy for most of the night, practically running back and forth between the kitchen and his tables. He shoots Phil a few apologetic shrugs and smiles, and when it becomes clear to Phil that Dan just doesn’t have the time for him tonight, he ends up leaving with SB in tow.

Dan’s finally able to breathe when the rest of his tables leave, and despite their deal earlier, PJ even insists that Dan keeps the majority of the tip money, knowing Dan worked hard tonight. He assures Dan he had loads of fun being a bit of a dick to Phil and his boyfriend, and that it was worth more to him than any monetary value could be.

This makes Dan laugh, and he has a smile on his face until he’s clocking out and reads the message he received from Phil earlier.

_Didn’t realise u would be so busy tonight :[ we’ll come in again when things r less crazy O.o_

Great.

***

The encounter is just as awkward as Dan expects it to be.

Phil makes sure to come in with SB on the last day of finals week, as he knows most uni students won’t be out studying at the diner and instead will be reacquainting themselves with their beds and a normal sleep schedule. This leaves the diner empty, as usual. Seeing as it’s a ghost town, there’s no reason to have two servers scheduled, so not even PJ is there to relieve him of his misery.

Luckily for Dan, though, Phil and SB sit on opposite sides of the booth, which doesn’t leave him anywhere to sit and stay and chat. Instead, he grabs the bucket of cutlery and sits at the bar area, rolling silverware just like he was that first night.

“Your best friend’s not very friendly,” he hears SB mumble to Phil, and his grip tightens on the fork he’s holding.

“Yeah, I’m not sure what’s going on,” Phil mutters back.

That’s the last they say on the matter, and when they both finish their stacks of pancakes, SB clears out, informing them both that he had work early the next morning and needed to get home and get to bed. Phil insists that he’s going to stick around for a little while longer, and Dan turns away and tries not to vomit when SB kisses Phil before leaving.

Phil hoists himself into the stool next to Dan, watching him methodically roll the silverware for a moment before speaking up.

“Hey,” he says simply, resting his cheek against his fist. “You doing okay?”

“Yeah,” Dan replies immediately. “Just tired.”

“Understandable. How were your finals?”

“Fine,” Dan answers shortly.

“Right.” Phil falls silent for a moment, still watching Dan roll the silverware together. “Er - is everything okay? Like, between us?”

“‘Course,” Dan says instantly. “Why wouldn’t it be?”

 _Because I got back together with my stupid boyfriend even though we totally had something going on here_ is what Phil should say. It’s not what he actually says, though, and Dan can’t help but be a little disappointed.

“I dunno. We just haven’t spoken much since that night we hung out in Manchester. Just wanted to make sure I hadn’t done anything wrong.”

“Nope,” he replies, and at this point, he’s not even surprised how easily the lie rolls off his tongue. “Just been busy studying for finals and all that. Plus, now that you’re back with Cam, I figured you’d want some alone time with him, so…”

“Well, yeah, I guess,” Phil admits, “but you’re still my bestie, I wanna spend time with you, too. You should come over this weekend, we can hang out and watch a movie and just relax.”

“Isn’t that date night or something?” Dan asks curtly. “Don’t want to be intruding on anything.”

“No,” Phil answers slowly, and Dan doesn’t have to look up to know that he’s confused. “He works nights on the weekend. You should come over.”

“Alright,” Dan agrees. He doesn’t really want to, but he knows Phil will never get off his case about it if he doesn’t. Besides, he doesn’t want Phil to know the real reason he’s upset, and no matter how much he wants to avoid Phil for the rest of time, he knows it’d be a pretty big hint.

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

***

It’s less eventful than Dan expected it to be, and for that, he’s grateful. Phil’s already got the title screen for Hercules up and ready to play, and Dan praises him on his excellent choice in movies. Despite the fact that Phil even went to the trouble of getting popcorn prepared, Dan is dead tired from the stress of finals week and working so many hours, and passes out not even fifteen minutes into the movie, the only light in the room coming from the telly and Phil’s computer screen.

He doesn’t wake until the credits are rolling, and he only comes to because of Phil’s hand on his shoulder, nudging him awake.

“Wow, sorry,” he says tiredly, rubbing at his eyes. “Didn’t even realise I was that tired.”

“That’s alright,” Phil says, and he sounds constipated. Dan wonders if anything happened while he was asleep, but decides he’s too tired to care. “You’ve had a long week. I’m sure you need the rest.”

“I do,” Dan agrees. “Which is why I’m probably gonna head home and crash, if you don’t mind.”

“Yeah, of course,” Phil replies, nodding almost robotically. “Want me to call you a cab?”

“Ordering an Uber as we speak,” Dan says, punching the information into his phone. “There’s one two minutes away. I’ll be good.”

“Good,” Phil agrees. The silence is awkward as Dan slips on his shoes and grabs his coat, and Dan’s still not sure what happened.

“Sorry for being so boring,” Dan mumbles as he zips up his coat. “We can reschedule for after the holiday and I promise I’ll be more fun.”

“Sounds like a plan,” Phil says, but there’s still tension in the air. “What day do you get back?”

“28th.”

“Nice, same. I’ll probably see you then.”

“Sounds like a plan, Stan.”

“Name’s Phil, you should know that by now,” Phil scolds weakly, giving him a small and awkward smile.

“Yeah, yeah,” Dan mutters. “I’ll call you what I like. Gotta go, though, my ride’s here. I’ll text you, yeah?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” Phil agrees. Dan bids him a quick goodnight and rushes out of the apartment, wondering what the hell happened to make things so horrendously awkward.

***

When Dan returns to Manchester on the 28th after visiting his family in Berkshire for the holidays, he’s dead set on throwing himself the biggest pity party he’s ever thrown. He’s got everything ready for a the guy I like is dating someone else extravaganza, including chocolate, his comfiest pair of sweatpants and his softest jumper, tissues in case he feels like crying, and the entire Winnie the Pooh boxset for him to binge on until the late hours of the morning. When he throws a pity party, he pity parties hard.

He’s about to settle down for his date with his favourite bear and his copious amounts of chocolate when his door buzzer sounds, and he groans - he is not in the mood for company, especially not when he’s wearing his rattiest outfit and about to indulge in a show meant for ten year olds. Still, it’s rude to ignore a guest who’s come all the way to visit little old him at - he glances at the time on his phone - eleven at night, so he groans some more and drags himself off the couch and answer the buzzer.

“Yeah?” he says into the receiver, resisting the urge to tell whoever it is to just go away.

“Hey,” the voice responds, and Dan recognises it immediately as Phil. “Can you let me in? It’s freezing out here.”

Dan wants to cry again. The one person who definitely wouldn’t make the guest list to his pity party is, of course, the one person who decides to visit him the night of. He wants to tell Phil to go away, as he wants to spend tonight sulking and feeling sorry for himself, but he knows that he can’t say no to Phil. He sighs as he rings him up, and it’s not long before Phil is knocking at his door.

“Howdy,” Dan deadpans as he opens the door, stepping aside to let Phil in. “Fancy seeing you here at this hour.”

“I just got back in town,” Phil explains, shrugging his coat off and hanging it next to Dan’s on the coat rack as Dan shuts the door behind him. “Figured I’d stop by and see if you were in, cos you didn’t text me.”

“Sorry, forgot,” Dan lies. He really hadn’t texted Phil because he wanted to have his pity party tonight, but it looked like that wouldn’t be happening anymore.

“Right,” Phil says. They’re both still standing awkwardly by the doorway, and Dan wants to die a little. “I also wanted to talk to you about something.”

Suddenly, Dan wants to die a lot. “Er, okay,” he starts, praying that this conversation won’t take a direction that makes Dan want to slam his head into a wall. “What’s up?”

“Okay, well,” Phil begins, and Dan knows this can’t be good. “The other night - well, the last time we hung out like a week and a half ago? While you were asleep, I, er - I was just browsing the internet -”

“Spit it out, Phil,” Dan demands, feeling more and more anxious by the second.

“Er, I found your Twitter profile.”

Alarm bells begin going off in Dan’s head, and he wants nothing more than to become one with the carpet right now. He suddenly remembers everything he’s ever tweeted about Phil as if he’s reading them now, all incriminating things like _tfw the guy you like gets back together with his boyfriend :/_ and _i’m so dumb for thinking he liked me too god_ and _wtf he’s not even cute i’m way cuter why aren’t you dating /me/._

“Ha,” he lets out awkwardly. “Remember that time I let you into my house just now? I’ve changed my mind, leave, this is really embarrassing -” He’s talking a mile a minute, literally trying to shove Phil towards the door and grab Phil’s coat all at once, and Phil grabs both of Dan’s wrists in his hands, stopping him.

“Hey, calm down, I’m not here to embarrass you -”

“Really? Cause I’m pretty fucking embarrassed right now,” Dan rattles off, looking down at the ground and refusing to meet Phil’s eyes.

“Just like - this is coming out wrong,” Phil says, frustrated. “That’s not all I came here to tell you.”

“What, you’re here to let me down easy, too? Because like, I already get it, I don’t need to hear you say it -”

“Let me finish,” Phil cuts in, exasperated. “I came here to tell you that Cam and I broke up. Again.”

“Oh,” Dan says quietly. “Oh. Uh. I’m sorry?”

“Don’t be,” Phil says, and Dan’s glad Phil feels that way, cause he’s really not sorry at all. “I shouldn’t have gotten back together with him in the first place. He broke my heart for a really dumb reason and he didn’t deserve a second chance. And besides…you were right. You and I had something going and I got back with him with no explanation. That wasn’t fair to you and I’m sorry.”

“Oh,” Dan says again, blinking in surprise. Now that it’s actually happening, he can’t even wrap his mind around the fact that Phil wants to date him. “It’s alright.”

“It’s not,” Phil argues, “but I’ll spend a lot of time and a lot of stacks of pancakes trying to make it up to you, if you’ll have me.” He still got his hands locked around Dan’s wrists and he lets go, moving them up so their palms are pressed together.

“Alright,” Dan agrees coolly, intertwining their fingers as Phil leans down and presses his forehead against Dan’s. “But to be clear, I’m in it for the pancakes.”

“I suspected as much,” Phil laughs, and they both smile at each other for a moment before Dan closes the gap between them and presses his mouth to Phil’s.

Although he knows Phil hasn’t had pancakes for several days, he still tastes like syrup.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](philslesters.tumblr.com).


End file.
